Other than the slight drop in sales, the usual GFK report on the occasion of the IFA, the Internationale Funkausstellung of Berlin, speaks of a 7% drop in home appliance sales and consumer electronics in Europe (slightly less globally) for the first six months of the year compared to 2021 with a worrying worsening trend in the May-June two-month period. Which makes the authoritative think tank of the tech domestic market, closing at the end of 2022 with a negative sign. It is true, this is a drop that comes after 2021 with double-digit growth, it is true - GFK underlines - that in any case sales exceeded those of 2019, but in 2022 a series of negative factors exploded (inflation, costs and energy price lists on the rise…) which are becoming structural. And, consequently, they will risk weighing on households' propensity to purchase for a long time. Electrolux e Whirlpool they are short of orders and their factories in Italy are seeing an increase in layoffs and heavy slowdowns. But there is something new in this global drop in demand (including in China with -9%) which could greatly damage the "contractor" countries, above all the Eastern European countries where the return of productions from Asia. Which is not entirely a good thing.
In Poland 35 household appliances factories at risk
“We are in the 13th month of negative performance – he declares Wojciech Konecki, general manager of Applia Polska- due to a general crisis in demand and shortage of components. We are also heavily affected by the fact that Russia and allied countries were one of the major recipients of our production. A decidedly dramatic situation for some production sites. And that's because 90% of what comes out of ours 35 household appliances factories is exported. In fact, we have become the first exporter of household appliances in Europe”. But mind China does not seem to fear the current of restoring which has seen many small and medium-sized companies return to their countries of origin and even some multinationals close huge production areas, for the Poland will become increasingly a difficult problem to contain. Its structure manufacturing it has in fact inflated immeasurably thanks to very long periods of very advantageous labor costs (as also in all of Eastern Europe). And, a negative fact that cannot be remedied, it is an exclusively subcontractor manufacturing structure, with production sites owned by big European, American, Korean and even Chinese companies. Who open and close these sites according to market trends. As they say 'as needed'”.
China, on the other hand, is not afraid of reshoring
And since a country like Poland (like the others in Eastern Europe) doesn't have its own strong brands – with the exception of Amica, the cooking specialist – it will be extremely difficult to cope with significant closures or downsizings. As for the China, that minus 9% of the first six months of 2022 is due to the very heavy ones Covid restrictions. Which, moreover, have triggered a series of closures or cuts in investments by small and medium-sized companies (many Italian ones) also frightened by the increasingly unsustainable costs of transport. More than 70% of the great American and European managers recently declared that what will increasingly influence a progressive relocation of supply chains or direct production in their homeland or in nearby areas is above all the growing political, economic and social uncertainty. China does not seem concerned about these trends, since the country is rich, it is rapidly expanding and the markets where it exports are always many and, indeed, they are the ones that are growing the most, as they are mainly extensive developing areas.
